IBM Medicare DisAdvantage 2023

 I called the UHC IBM phone number to find out more about the IBM UHC Medicare Advantage Plan coverage in 2023 and how the "stipend" works because a lot of information is floating around and I wanted to be somewhat accurate in writing this post.  There isn't a lot of information about the UHC plans. The website retiree.uhc.com/ibm  has a lot of "coming soon" information.  The agents who answer the phone are very kind but all they want to do help enroll people into one of the two plans (which is so premature it's insane).  I am not going to describe the plans because there isn't much information about them beyond that there are two plans and one is more expensive than the other.  They are the Essential Plan and the Enhanced Plan.

As regards the stipend (don't call it an HRA!!!), it is true the stipend is only available to users of the "Essential Plan" and it seems to be about $1,300.  HOWEVER, the Essential Plan has a maximum annual out of pocket cost of $5,000 for the year and an Rx deductible of $395.  The Enhanced Plan maximum annual out of pocket is $750 and an Rx deductible of $50. Even though there is a monthly premium for the Enhanced Plan (about $130/mo),  why one would ever get the "Essential" Plan is unknown (at least by me) because of that max out of pocket (which is often talked about as MOOP).

I specifically asked if UHC policy holders could go to Sloan Kettering or City of Hope.  The answer I got was no.  That's no surprise.  I just wanted to verify it.

Reminder, I will never, ever enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan no matter how good it "looks" on paper because I believe they are Medicare DisAdvantage plans if you get really sick. 

This next part has nothing to do with UHC Medicare Advantage Plans but it is about our benefits.

I asked UHC what happens to people who have "FHA" money left in their account.  How does that work in terms of accessing the money to cover medical costs? Of course, the UHC agent didn't know.  She gave me another number that put me into IBM pension information and when I hit the number for Medicare information I was right back in the UHC call center. I don't know what will happen with that money, but if you have an FHA and can prepay 2023 premiums in 2022 you might want to spend out your FHA before you lose it if you don't intend to use the Medicare Advantage plans.

There are two other IBM benefits I asked about and the UHC agent really had no idea what I was talking about.  These benefits are probably disappearing but IBM has not mentioned anything about it. You might recall that IBM told us they would jump in and help with the cost of drugs for the rest of the year if the retiree had spent about $8,000 out of pocket.  IBM also would help with the cost of  home care (which is not covered by Medicare no matter what the plan) when the retiree spend about $6,500 and also do it for the rest of the year. These were described in IBM's "About Your Benefits" Publication. 

I wrote in a prior post that I believe IBM is stealing compensation money from retirees.  I talked to a friend who is a lawyer and they sort of agree.  The next step for me is to find a class action lawyer who agrees.